Romantic euphoria and dancing devotion
Kolkata's Rabindra Sadan auditorium was vibrant with several solo and group dance performances on the fourth day (December 11) of Uday Shankar Dance Festival 2014.
An award-winning dancer of West Bengal State Music Academy, Shreya Bhattacharya set off the event with performing solo Kathak recital. Devlina Kumar's solo Manipuri presentation followed.
An Odissi troupe, led by Kakoli Bose, lyrically performed dance pieces featuring graceful eye movements, fabulous corporal gestures and artistic expressions. Accomplished artiste Mrinalini Biswas captivated the packed audience with her solo Bharatnatyam recital.
Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda and Uday Shankar are the three Bangalees who, in the twentieth century, made a mark with their creative faculties. In the srijanshil (creative) dance presentation directed by Bappa Chatterjee, Tagore's sublime songs got mingled with the choreography of Uday Shankar. Several artistes of Ethnic Dance Academy vibrantly performed a production titled “Universally Yours”. They danced to the numbers from Tagore's Nobel-winning literary piece “Geetanjali”. The presentation seemingly took the audience to a state of bliss. Shabana Azmi and Somnath Chattapadhyay's recitation, including embellished the dance display.
Under the direction of eminent guru Dr. Thankamuni Kutty, three artistes -- Sanjukta Banerjee, Swarnadeepa and Nimmi of Kolkata Kalamandalam delicately performed Mohniattam at the festival.
Sanjukta Banerjee, who is an expert of Kathakali, Bharatnatyam and Mohniattam, presented a devotional piece Shree Ganapati Udey where she enacted a devotee who offered her prayer to Lord Ganapati at a temple at early dawn, pleading to remove all the obstacles on her journey of life. Swarnadeepa presented Poet Joydev's Astapadi, depicting the celebration of Spring, a season of love. She portrayed all the imageries of the season. Nimmi also performed an Astapadi in Mohniattam based on Joydev poetic beauty. The artiste enacted Radha's romantic rivalry with other women whom Lord Krishna was in love with. Set on adi tala, the piece was woven with Ragas sMalikam, Mohnam, Kappi and Bihag. Later, the trio closed with a group dance presentation.
The artistes of Koothambalam Cultural Association stood out among all the performers of the day. They performed Bharatnatyam pieces -- kirtanaam and tillana in unique styles. The dancers evoked the multifarious qualities of Lord Rama through depicting kirtanaam which was originally choreographed by Guru Thankamuni Kutty. Directed by Abhoy Paul, their tillana presentation was immaculate as well. They stylishly balanced dance mudras while performing in a group.
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